@esciisc

@esciisc 25 November 2020

A Day Without Gadgets *25 hours, 41 minutes and 50 seconds.* That's exactly how long I was disconnected from the outside world lol, I mean that's how long I've been disconnected from the internet after my phone's battery was drained the previous day. It's been almost a month since electricity was cut off in the area where I live due to the typhoons that pummeled our region for three consecutive weeks. Until now, we only depend on a generator for power supply. Unfortunately, my dad and my brother were not home yesterday so there's no one to operate the generator, and we have to endure not having a power supply for almost two days. I don't own a power bank for back up, I can't charge my phone and I'm too lazy to go to town just to recharge it. So I ended up enduring a day without using any gadget and this is how my day went: *Woke up at 5:30 am, linger in bed for about 20 minutes staring at the ceiling doing nothing. Right this moment, I usually have my phone on my hand, whether scrolling on social media or reading some articles on read.cash. But it was different this morning, my phone was dead and I can only imagine how many comments I must reply when I get back on the site. After minutes of gawking in space, I decided to just get off the bed and opened the stove to heat up some water. Prepared breakfast and made my little sister drink her meds because she's been ill since the night before (and my mom's not home to look after her). Did some household chores. At 10:30 am, we had lunch prepared, so we don't have a choice but to eat it.* *Lunch ended, and we're all bored to death, so we decided to just clean up the rooms and the kitchen, folded the clothes and arranged the stuffs that aren't kept yet since the typhoon. After a short while, my mom called on my sister's phone (thankfully my sister still has a 1% battery life), and told us to dry out the palay (rice) seeds in the sun, so we did because we don't have a choice but to obey her. We simultaneously cleaned the house while looking after the rice seeds. Talked about random things just to entertain ourselves, looked back on some memories. Slept at 12, woke up at 1 pm to resume with the chores. Imagined myself holding my phone and reading articles in read.cash again (sadly, it's just an imagination).* *So basically, we did a lot of chores today since there is no gadget to distract us. The house is gleaming when my parents arrived this evening, we had the rice seeds dried up. And it feels so good to be disconnected from social media for at least a day.* In this day and age where a gadget is no longer a luxury, but a need, since most people use it for work, schooling and other online transactions, it is sometimes a challenge to keep ourselves away from our phones and other gadgets. Several years ago owning a gadget is a luxury, especially for people who live in developing countries. However, when smartphones boomed in 2012 it becomes more accessible to more people. Nowadays, people from various ages owns a gadget - be it a smartphone, a tablet or a laptop, Surprisingly, even a 5-year-old kid has its own tablet to watch his or her favorite cartoons. Owning a gadget is good because it can help us in many ways. We can use our gadget to surf the internet for a speedy research. Wherein we no longer have to go to a library and spend lots of time doing research, just go to google and you will get all the necessary information you are looking for in just one click. In addition to this, we can also use our gadgets for banking transaction, online shopping, online learning and connecting with our far-away loves ones. Those are just few of the positive effects of owning of gadgets and there's a lot more. In spite of this, it's not all the time that using a gadget has positive effects. Though cellphones are designed to connect people it can also put emotional distance between people. Some neglects their families and friends because instead of talking to each other, they are sucked in their own world with their smartphones, tablet, or laptop. Pretty much of the time, a lot of people spends most of their time in using their gadgets. Some spends a whole day surfing the internet, reads chats and emails and checking their social media accounts. There are some, mostly teenagers who lose all their time in playing mobile games. Indeed, mobile games are high-tech entertainment and there's a lot of cool games and apps out there that will really ease a person's boredom. Mobile games have become so popular that some people will not stop playing until they reach the level they are looking forward to achieving and even if they reach that specific level they feel like they have to play more to get the satisfaction they are looking for and not minding that they've spent so many hours and forgotten that there are a lot of more important things to do. Some even forget to eat and socialize. When this happens, instead of people being in control of their gadgets, they are being enslave by it. Time is very precious and should not be squandered. If you feel like you are being enslaved by your gadgets here are the few things that might help you: ***Setting a time limit.*** Trying to use a timer when you are using your phone for social media and entertainment. Once you hear the timer, you'll know that it's time to stop and do some other things instead. ***Put your gadget away from your sight when doing an important task.*** Once your device is reached by your eyes you will only be tempted to use it so put it away from you. ***Set your priorities.*** What task should you prioritize instead of using your gadget? ***Ask for help***. Sometimes it's hard when you do things alone. So try to ask a trusted family member or a close friend to help you get back in control of your gadgets. As I mentioned earlier, it is good to use gadgets but you'll be happier and enjoy life more if you are the one in control of it. And it isn't so bad after all to have a day without gadgets. - @esciisc 💕 `Lead image from istockphoto.com`

@esciisc 23 November 2020

A Night Without You *TikTok TikTok.....* *The clock struck twelve,* *and I suddenly woke up from a deep sleep.* *Still half awake but I knew something's not right.* *That's when I realized that you're not by my side.* *I tried to look for you in the dark,* *groped things with eyes half opened,* *Slowly, slowly, slowly.* *Trying so hard not to make a sound,* *So as not to wake up other people around,* *crawled down slowly,* *checking if you are just lying beneath my feet,* *but to no avail.* *You were not there, sadly.* *No! I can't bear to lose you tonight!* *I can't live without you by my side.* *I can't fall asleep if you're not around* *I bet I can't even go halfway to dream land!* *I need to feel you, I need you to give me warmth, and I need you to give me that ticklish feeling again.* *I'm tired of this scenario every night.* *Always waking up in the middle of the night just to look for you, should I go on like this?* *What happened?* *We're good when I went to sleep just a while ago.* *I was in ecstasy when you hugged me,* *I felt very happy, because you complete me.* *I can't bear a night without you,* *this wouldn't do!* *And I can't easily let you go,* *I must find you and I don't care if they wake up.* *So I forced myself to get up,* *turned on the light,* *And I smiled because you were just there lying on the cold floor!* *Now I can sleep soundly again and with a smile on my face,* *Because I finally found you, my dear mosquito net!* *A night without you is big NO NO.* Did you think it was human? Sorry for that hahaha 😆✌🏻 I tried to free write a poem because I can't think of a good topic to write plus the fact that I'm too busy lately and feeling stressed out with some stuffs too. Good thing I had this experience last night which became my inspiration for the poem lol. Like me, can you also not fall asleep without a mosquito net? Or do you know someone who can't live without it? When I was younger, I always thought that I'm a weird kid because I can't bear to live without the mosquito net beside me. I have it with me when I'm eating, playing, watching the television, reading a book - basically anything that I do indoors, I have the mosquito net with me. There are even instances that I want to bring it in school! 😅 Back in high school, we had a program and part of that is to go camping for three days and two nights, I have no choice but to bring the mosquito net along with me. I struggled a lot at night just to keep it a secret from my classmates. I had to keep my guards up and sleep when everyone's sleeping. But on the second night, I've let my guard down because I was too exhausted with all the activities we did the entire day. My classmates found out about it and as a result I became the class' laughing stock that day 😅 That was embarrassing but thankfully, it was forgotten after several months. When I had my first job interview, the interviewer asked me something that people find weird about me and I answered that it is when I tell them I can't live without the mosquito net. Surprisingly, the interviewer is the same as me. We talked about our similar stories and until now I'm still thinking that I probably passed that interview because we both like the mosquito net 😂 Nevertheless, that experience gave me courage not to be ashamed to let people know that I love mosquito net so much that I can't live without it. And recently, some posts about it became trending on social media and I found out a lot of people are like that too! So now, I have the courage to bring a mosquito net everywhere! I always have it in my bag and I bring it with me when I'm travelling and even to work! But don't think that I'm bringing the big one lol, I made a customized mosquito net that fits in the small pocket of my bag hehe. Sorry, I know that this is a lame article. But I just want to write something today to release my stress and I'm happy that I did. I was smiling the who time I'm writing and I hope that you like it - @esciisc💕

@esciisc 21 November 2020

For some reason, I feel like this community is too quiet today. Is it just me? How's everyone?

@esciisc 18 November 2020

Random Food Stories and Recipes I've been contemplating the whole day what to write. Tried writing about several topics that came to my mind and even tried to continue the articles saved on my notepad which I started to write weeks and even months ago but are still unfinished up to this moment, but to no avail. So I browsed my gallery, found some photos and decided to make something out of those photos. Just like what @Jane previously said, if you can't think of something to write, just go to the kitchen and do some cooking! But I'm too lazy to cook and I don't want to go outside my room as my head feels like spinning every time I see the light (🧛 lol). So for now, I'll just share with you some foods I cooked in the past and maybe you'll like the recipes haha. Fried hotdogs Manna Rice & Corn Lousy name right? Just don't mind the name then. Have you ever heard of manna rice? They call it a **meal supplement** because it contains vitamins, minerals and soybeans. A rice meal which is made specifically for malnourished children. But if you are on a strict diet, I suggest eating this one. We had a bunch of manna rice pack at home which my dad's friend gave. We tried cooking it once, but my siblings didn't like the smell and the taste. And I don't like to just let it sit there and go bad so I decided to make something out of it that the people at home might like. `Ingredients:` `1 pack of manna rice (cooked like the regular rice)` `Oil` `Onion` `Garlic` `Oyster sauce` `Salt` `Monosodium glutamate` `5-10 pieces hotdogs cut into strips` `1 bowl of boiled sweet corn` `Procedure:` `It is like a regular fried rice with a twist.` `• Pre-heat the pan and add the oil.` `• Saute the onion and garlic until it becomes brown and aromatic` `• Add the sweet corn and fry for about 2 minutes then add the hotdogs.` `• Pour in the manna rice and add ouster sauce, salt and monosodium glutamate to taste.` `• Ready to serve!` Fried Sweet Anchovies Are a fan of Korean dramas? Then you probably saw the characters drink *soju* (Korean Alcoholic beverage), beer or rice wine along with anchovies! I always wanted to try it so I searched on youtube for some recipes and found this! For Filipinos out there who's tired of eating fried salted dried fish (tuyo), why not try this? The blend of sweetness, spice and crispiness will surely satisfy your palate especially if you eat it along with some beer or mixed alcoholic drink! `Ingredients:` `Dried anchovies` `Ketchup` `Paprika (optional)` `Sugar` `Oil` `Procedure:` `• In a bowl mix the ketchup, paprika and sugar.` `• Add the anchovies and mix until the mixture have covered all the fishes.` `• Pre-heat the pan and add the oil.` `• Fry the anchovies and sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar and paprika` `• Serve the fried anchovy on a plate!` Homemade Fish balls Fish ball is one of the most loved street foods (tusok-tusok) by Filipinos. Fish balls and kikiams are popular among students and even those who aren't because they are cheap yet tasty. I remember back in college, me and my friends used to buy these and a mere $0.25 will already make us full and we still have some cents left for fruit juice *(palamig)* to quench our thirst. But at this time of pandemic, I really don't like buying them outside as much as I would love to for the sake of being safe from the virus. One time, we had a lot of mackerel tuna as a left over and that time I was also craving for some street foods, so I thought "*why not make fish balls at home?",* it will be more safe and healthy. `Ingredients:` `fish fillet cut to small pieces` `garlic` `onion` `salt` `sugar` `cornstarch` `all purpose flour` `egg white` `coking oil` `• In a bowl, mix all the ingredients until smooth and sticky. You can also use a blender or hand blender.` `• Using a spatula, gently roll the paste until you have a sausage like shape.` `• Scoop some of the fish paste on a spoon and shape it into a ball.` `• In a frying pan, heat the oil. Add the fish balls and cook until it becomes golden brown.` `• Serve with a fish ball sauce.` Fried Fish & Bitter Gourd w/ Tomato Sauce I cooked this in the midst of the hard lockdown. Those were the days when I tried to do everything to ease my boredom during the quarantine. My dad planted different vegetables in the yard and one of those is the bitter gourd, I was tired of eating the same sauted bitter gourd with eggs so I decided to make my own recipe. `Ingredients:` `Fried fish` `Bitter gourd (Ampalaya) sliced into thin strips` `Cooking oil` `garlic` `onion` `salt` `soy sauce` `black pepper` `spring onions` `tomato sauce` `Procedure:` `• Pre heat the pan and saute the garlic and onion until it becomes golden brown.` `• Add the bitter gourd and add 3 teaspoons of soy sauce and 1 cup of tomato sauce.` `• Add salt and pepper to taste` `• When the bitter gourd is cooked, add the fried fish.` `• Sprinkle with spring onions before serving.` This is just few of the easy recipes I could share with you. Maybe I'll share some more in the future. I hope you enjoyed and somehow learned something new from this article. - @esciisc💕 Other food- related articles: **Cooking Shenanigans** https://read.cash/@esciisc/cooking-shenanigans-cb34a22d **A Little More Healthy** https://read.cash/@esciisc/a-little-more-healthy-7f8fb38c

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@esciisc 15 November 2020

Fifth Monthsary I bet you thought about a romantic relationship monthsary after reading the title. Well, if you do then you are on the wrong page. I'm actually pertaining to my fifth monthsary as a read.cash user. http://read.cash I went straight to google chrome upon switching on my phone this morning and logged to my read.cash account and voila it shows that I'm already a 5-months user! Upon seeing this, I can't help but travel down the memory lane and reminisce my read.cash journey. http://read.cash Five months ago I was busily scrolling on social media, feeling bored that time because I feel like all I do everyday is *eat-sleep-repeat* and there is nothing new to bring a spice on my boring life, nothing to make my quarantine days exciting, and suddenly I came across a post that says I could earn money through writing. I really like writing and even made a collection of essays and letters after a month of being quarantined at home, as cliche as it may be, I wrote a comment and asked '*how*?'. After a couple of hours, the girl who wrote that post sent me a youtube link saying I should watch her video to find out how. Thinking about it, she actually misled a lot of people because on her video, she said that we can write anything under the heat of the sun - even nonsensical things and earn from it! I didn't finish the video and went straight to read.cash and explored the site myself. http://read.cash If you've known me for quite some time, you'll probably laugh if I show you my introductory article. My comments these days are even longer than my introduction! This is what it says: "*This is my first time writing in this website and I'm really hoping that I will be able to earn some money here. I already came across a lot of get paid to website which have very promising deals but in the end after investing my time and effort, I only got heartbreaks. But life must go on, here I am trying this website hoping that this is indeed for real this time. I can say that I am not a very good writer, I only write as a hobby and most of my writings are about my real feelings. So really hope you guys will support me though my writings aren't perfect."* What kind of introduction is that? I know it's lame. Not even 24 hours has passed I was finally able to cash out my very first earnings. Look at that screenshot, I've got **$0.61**, a small amount but that small amount made a big impact on me. It made me believe the read.cash is indeed real! Even wrote an article about it. That time readcash still have the point system where we get basically get points for every activity on the site - publishing an article, getting upvotes (thumbs up) and commenting. After three days, I got my very first upvote of $0.50 from a certain user, but I forgot his username. A lot of communities right? 😂 During this time, we can still submit our articles to as many communities as we like. That time I learned that the more community you submit your article, the more comments the article will get and it also means more points for the user. We can even submit to more 20 communities! But then, there are some changes wherein we are only allowed to submit to one community. And there are the so-called '**featured community**', if my memory serves me right, we can only get points if we submit an article to a featured community. After quite some time, there's another site upgrade where we only earn points when a '**power user**' upvotes our article. Honestly, that time I have a very little subscriber and my articles are not getting much views and reads that I nearly gave up on writing. Look at that! I even made a short post about it! But instead of giving up, I tried to make friends through my comments. You can say that I was feeling close with my comments and tried and tried even though no one notices my comments lol. Then after quite some time, I actually gained some friends here which I don't want to state the names as I may overlook some. We were exchanging engaging ang meaningful comments on the comments section and it motivated me to continue with my blogging journey on this site. And who would forget that '**memes**' flooding on the site. I was inactive for about a week that time and my notification was bombarded with memes upon checking on the site. That was history I must say, because after that Read.cash banned himself on the site and after that, giveaways and contests flooded the site. It was really annoying because as a reader, it was hard for me to find good articles that are worth the read! Having problems with spammers lately? Well let me tell you, it was worse before. Spammers are copying articles, comments and basically they do anything to spam. Who would forget the '**I subscribe you, please subscribe me'** schemes? Haha I consider it a nightmare. Some users became '*spammer* hunters' and the spammers fought back resulting for the spammer hunters being muted for several days on the site. It was chaotic. But honestly, I also did asked for others to subscribe me when I was still an ignorant newbie, pardon me for doing that. I must say that things got better after the new reward system was implemented. No more giveaway and contest articles, no more sub-for-sub comments and more articles that are worth reading. In my five months of stay on read cash, I wrote a total of **154 articles**, accumulated **$135.84** worth of BCH from paid upvotes on my articles excluding those I earned during the point system, **513 subscribers**, **7** **sponsors** and I'm also **sponsoring 22 other users**. I also have a total of **14 affiliates**, a **top tipper badge** and **zero conflict** with other users! I'm so glad that I found out about this site because it made my quarantine days exciting. Nowadays, there's nothing more exciting than opening that red notification bell and see upvotes from TheRandomRewarder lol. I don't want to be a hypocrite, I admit, I'm happy whenever I get a favorable amount of upvotes for the articles I write, but being here, somewhere along the way, I learned to just consider it a bonus since I really enjoy being here, interacting with others, learning more about the crypto world and meeting lots of people from all over the world and of various ages. I'm thrilled every time I think that the articles I write reaches a global audience (readers) and that for me is priceless. Happy fifth monthsary to me and thank you my dear readcash friends for being part of my blogging journey!

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@esciisc 13 November 2020

I miss you so much my dear therandomrewarder. Balik ka na, di mo na ba talaga 'ko lab? 🤧💔💔

@esciisc 13 November 2020

Thank you sis @bmjc98 hehe never expected it. Late na ko nag check dito sa readcash and that's the first thing I saw ☺️

@esciisc 11 November 2020

Accidentally tipped an article with an amount more than what I intended to give and lost 2 days worth of upvotes from the bot 😭😭 But now I have a top tipper diamond badge 💎🤣

@esciisc 10 November 2020

I wonder who's downvoting my articles? 🤔🙄 I noticed this with my previous article too. Whoever you may be, I hope you're happy doing that and I hope the best for you in this platform. Just a reminder that those downvotes will never discourage me and I'm still doing great even if you constantly do it. May you find the peace within you 🙂

@esciisc 10 November 2020

Acne Problems - How to Get Rid of Acne Puberty is probably one of the most difficult stage of life. During puberty, a lot of changes are happening to the human body. One of the most annoying things about puberty is getting acne. During my teenage years, acne have been my major problem and it came to a point that I became depressed and I lost the confidence to face people. That disgusted look in the eyes of people every time they look at my face full of acne is so horrifying. Acne made my confidence went down the drain. That feeling when one pimple disappear today yet upon waking up the next day, there's another pimple attack. And what's worst is that they usually attack my face during special occasions and special days! Pimples made me feel ugly and I'm always self-conscious, when people look at me, I always think that they're looking at my pimples! It made me ashamed and utterly devastated that most of the time I just want the ground to open and eat me up so that I could escape the embarrassment. What is Acne? Acne is a complex skin disorder which is characterized by blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, red swellings or even cysts. It usually occurs on the face but it can also be found on the neck, arms and shoulders and at the back. Sometimes it only last a few days or weeks, but for others it becomes a serious skin disorder that no matter what they do it just won't disappear. Acne plagues people of all ages, but teenagers mostly suffers from it. The Causes of Acne The common factors that causes acne are excessive oil, bacteria, dirt, sweat, make up and genetics. But why does this mostly affects the teenagers? It's because of puberty. During puberty, the activities of the skin glands increases. This is what the world book encyclopedia says about it: `" Each gland empties into a hair follicle, the little bag surrounding each hair. Normally the oil would drain out through the pores of the skin, however, at times a pore was clogged so the oil couldn't get out quickly. The trapped oil then oxidizes, turns black and dries and becomes a blackhead. But when the pore is so clogged and no air could get to it, a whitehead is developed instead. When pus forms, a pimple would appear. Pimples doesn't leave a scar unless it is squeezed or picked."` Why then pimples usually appear during important or special events? Is it just a coincidence or does pimples have a sixth sense that they would appear on such days or occasion? The reason is that emotional upsets and tension could activate the skin glands. That's why sometimes a large pimple would blossom just a day before the important event. How To Cure Acne There is no single treatment or cure for acne. When I was a teenager, I tried all the acne medication advised by family and friends. I tried natural ways such us using moringa, baking soda, papaya leaves, honey and lemon but to no avail, my acne seems undaunted. In my early 20s, I had the courage to use soaps, astringents and rejuvenating sets and changed my lifestyle and the way I view my pimples. I was so happy with the little changes I see in my face upon waking up each day and thankfully, at twenty-three, 80% of my pimples are gone. Now I'm maintaining a more healthy lifestyle to totally be free from acne. **Some ways to get rid of acne:** **Do not prick, rub or squeeze your pimples**. This is what I did wrong as a teenager. I'm ashamed of the pimples on my face, so I thought that squeezing them would be great to remove it. But this actually increases the production of sebum and also ruptures the membrane below the skin. The infection and sebum then spreads underneath the skin and causes more pimples and worst, it leaves scars and marks on the face. This is the reason why there are some people who have small craters on their face. **Wash your face twice a day**. Before, I was always feeling lazy to wash my face, I even forget to do it at night and the next day, I can see pimples blooming on my face. Take note that over washing could also stimulate the sebaceous glands and produce more sebum which will increase your acne, so do not over wash your face. **Water therapy**. Drinking more than right glasses of water every day can help remove the toxins and waste material out of our body, it purifies the body and thus helps prevent acne flare-ups. **Take care of your diet and eat healthy foods**. Stay away from oily or greasy foods. When I was younger, I liked dry foods the most and this means that my meals is mostly made up of anything fried. I still like fried foods up to now, but I take it in small portions and it's the same when it comes to junk foods. As much as possible eat more organic foods and consume more vegetables and fruits. Remember that, what is best for our body is also best for the skin. **Get enough sleep**. Before, I used to stay up all night reading books, watching dramas and movies or making my projects. But this actually leads to pimple breakouts the next day. It was hard at first but I can now manage to sleep before 11 p.m. Getting enough sleep doesn't only help eliminate acne, it also helps me feel great and vigorous the entire day. **Avoid cosmetics or beauty products that are too strong for your skin which causes aggravation**. Oil based make-ups usually makes the skin oilier and thus makes acne flare up. **Check with a dermatologist**. If your acne is severe, it's better to consult with a professional than use self prescribed treatment or medication. Some stops with their acne treatment plan when they don't see initial improvement. Always remember that patience is the key to successfully treat your acne. Don't expect your face to be pimple free and clear overnight just because you used something to treat it. It can really be devastating when acne just won't leave you, like I was before, you may also feel that people are always noticing your pimples and mocks you for that and as a result you may lose your confidence and you may even become introverted. But don't focus on your acne, it doesn't mean that you have acne, you're already ugly. And remember that not all people are noticing your pimples, when they look at your face, they may have noticed your pimples, but they might also be adoring your beautiful eyes, the shape of your lips or your pointed nose and not really focusing on your acne. So be a little more confident and cultivate your outgoing attitude. A couple of years ago, a decided to be a full time volunteer in teaching all sorts of people about the bible, then I tried to learn a new language, I was really enjoying all that and totally forgot about my pimples. Because, I was always busy in helping other people, I developed a more positive perspective about myself. There are cases when acne will leave scars on your face and you might feel bad about it, but also remember that inner beauty is what matters the most. There are people who will appreciate you for your kindness, helpfulness and pleasant personality. - @esciisc 💕

@esciisc 8 November 2020

I'm Cheap *“You know what? You are the cheapest friend I have.”* *“ What?! Why?”* I frowned and slapped her shoulder lightly. *“Because whenever we meet, you don't like eating in a restaurant or a fast food. You always want us to eat street foods. Hello! I told you I'll pay for the foods.”* *“Oh yes! I agree that I'm your cheapest friend! And I'm proud of that. Next time we'll eat at that restaurant if that's what will make you happy”*, I sheepishly smiled at her. This was the conversation I had with my BFF yesterday. She became my friend back in high school, and we've been friends for more than 12 years now. We rarely talk and see each other because of the conflicts in our schedules, but when we talk or meet, we usually pick up from where we left. I think it's somehow a one of a kind friendship, we can get along well, and we can bond without being too clingy with each other. Going back to what happened, she called me cheap because when we see each other, I usually ask for us to eat some street foods which are really cheap — you can buy a lot with a mere $1. It's not just her who calls me cheap. My family would sometimes say I'm cheap and too strict when it comes to spending my money. Well, there's a deep reason why I became like this. I'm actually not being cheap, I'm just being thrifty. I always think about being practical instead of being a spendthrift. I always want to be thrifty and live economically. Nowadays, being thrifty is no longer highly regarded like it was before. I remember, when I was a lid, my grannies would always tell us stories how thrifty our great-grandparents were, one even died with lots of money kept in a wooden box so his family didn't worry about his burial. When I was a student, my mom would give me money just enough for my fare and snacks she doesn't give me extra although she can. So I learned to be thrift and not spend all my money for snacks. I say that I have no money, but I always have an emergency fund kept in secrecy. Nowadays, instead of being thrifty, people are encouraged to spend here and there. Advertisements and media plays an important role on this, so if we are not careful, we could be swayed by that and waste our money on unimportant things. Being thrifty is good but when a person is already mean, stingy, miserly and close-fisted because of being thrifty, then it's no longer a good thing. We should learn to be thrifty in a wise way. Reasons why we should be thrifty **Money could protect us**. In Ecclesiastes 7:12, the bible says that “money is protection.” It doesn't mean that money could give us a measure of security and protection. But when there is an emergency such as accident or sickness, it could help us. So it is on right to be thrifty and always save whenever we have the chance to do so. **Getting more for our money**. When we save our money and buy, our money earns interest until we could spend it. For example, I store money on my online wallet, but I don't get it from money remittance centers when I need it. I made a loading business where people pay me to top up their load and data. That way, I eliminate paying for cash outs on money remittance centers, and I gain interest instead. **We learn the value of resourcefulness**. When you try to be thrifty, you can differentiate what's a need and what's a want. If something is really needed, but you are trying to be more economical, you can look for alternatives. Perhaps buy second hand items or if possible, just borrow from someone. I used to spend a lot of money for expensive clothes just to be more fashionable, but when a friend taught me how to buy on thrift shops, I became more frugal but fashionable at the same time. I want to look decent when I go out, but I also give so much thought to save money when it comes to clothes. I watched some Korean Dramas and really liked how the characters dressed with a dignified look, so I tried to look for similar styles on nearby thrift shops and somehow found these clothes. I spent a mere $1.20 on this, but they say that it doesn't look cheap at all. **You can pursue your passion**. Some think that when you are thrifty, you won't be able to make fun and enjoy. But this is a big NO. When you try to be more frugal you can be free from more spending and debt. Less debt, means more freedom. And since you want to save more, you can be as innovative as you can. I remember one time, I was craving for a fried chicken from a famous fast food restaurant, but my conscience is killing me for going there alone, so I watched tutorial vlogs how to achieve the same taste as that specific fast food's fried chicken. So I was able to save more and I was also able to do my passion in cooking. We had some leftover from the fried chicken I cooked so I tried to recycle it and was able to come up with this. Most of the family's budget is usually spent on foods. So being thrifty also means being careful when we are buying our foods, in the preparation and what we do with leftovers. Most of the time, we just throw away the left overs, but if we can just be innovative and resourceful, we can save it and make something new out of it. That way we can save money from buying again. **You can pursue a healthier life**. I want to be more physically fit, but I'm too lazy to exercise most of the time, but I learned from a magazine I've read before that brisk walking is also a form of exercise, so I usually just walk going to a certain place instead of riding a vehicle. That way I hit two birds with one stone — I can save money for fare and I could exercise at the same time. These are just few of the reasons why I practice being thrifty. I can say that being frugal can also bring a certain degree of pleasure and satisfaction. So being called cheap doesn't matter at all. @esciisc 💕

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@esciisc 3 November 2020

After He Left - The Devastating Aftermath At 4:50 a.m. on Sunday, Super Typhoon Rolly inch its way and made a landfall over Bato Catanduanes. With 315 kilometers per hour maximum sustained winds, it began to pummel everything in its path and left the province with devastating marks. It continued it's way over to the province of Albay and began to cut its trail of death when the heavy rains caused the debris from Mayon volcano's massive eruption in the past, such as ashes, pumice, rocks and sand flowed down and buried the villages of Travesia and San Francisco in mud and rocks. There are a total of 10 casualties in Albay according to the recent news report and three people are still missing. In this photo, a dead woman from Guinobatan, Albay was being taken out of the mud after super typhoon Rolly left the province. A person tried to save his life but unable to because his body is already buried in the ground when the lahar flowed down. This is a village is Guinobatan, Albay which is engulfed by lahar. According to the news reports, around 300 houses were buried under the armored rocks coming from the Mayon Volcano. While the entire country is still struggling due to the corona virus pandemic, the *world's strongest storm* this 2020 caused a lot of trees to topple, many houses were left flattened and hundreds of roofs were also sent whirling through the air when strong rain and catastrophic winds pummeled the Bicol region. Roads and farms were drowned in torrents as flood came rushing. This is Mr. Salvador, a man from Guinabatan, Albay who lost his 5 year old son. According to reports, he was holding his son when unexpextedly, a rushing flood came and his son was swept away by the strong torrent. His son's body was found by Red Cross' volunteers in Oas, Albay which is 25 kilometers away. When Mr. Salvador saw the child's body, he confirmed that it is indeed his son. His wife and his daughter were also swept away by swollen torrents from the flood and are reported missing up to now. This is a house from my hometown, a lot of houses like this were also left flattened by super typhoon Rolly. It will take weeks and even months for these people to rebuild their houses and go back to their normal life. This is a photo taken this afternoon. Previously, my neighbor's house was standing here, but the strong storm swept their house. Unfortunately, it wasn't even a year yet since they built the house and now they have to rebuild it. Amid the strong winds and rain, village officials in our place rushed in the streets to get a coffin out of the flood. They said that it was a coffin burried about a month ago. And yesterday, while someone's cleaning, a partially decomposing corpse is found one kilometer from my house. Imagine the horror of the residents from our community when they found out about it. This is a photo of the market area in my town. Unfortunately, the whole town was soaked in the flood. The strong rain and wind also destroyed some burial niche and tombs on a nearby cemetery which caused some corpses to be carried by the flood. Aside from that, a sick old man drowned in the flood as well. Since he is already bed ridden, he wasn't able to get out of his house and evacuate so when the flood came, he drowned and died. Some roads are still not passable until now because a lot of electricity posts and we're severely damaged and are still lying in the streets. Transmission lines are also cut off which causes a massive brownout in the Bicol region. Just like before, it would probably take weeks or even months for the electricity supply to be fixed. In a nearby town, internet connection and phone receptions are also cut off. Thankfully, we already have a stable internet connection in my town after two days of losing contact from the '*outside world*'. Saturday, a day before super typhoon Rolly, landed, was like any ordinary day. The sun shined the whole day, so many people in our place are not expecting for the typhoon to be as strong as it was. But it so happened that when a super strong typhoon is coming, the sun always shine as if it was it's last. Just like how it was when super typhoon Reming and super Typhoon Yolanda hit the country. If we compare it, both are also deadly and both landed in the month of November. This should serve as a lesson that if the sun shines brightly a day or two before the landfall of a strong typhoon, it should be a warning for people to start preparing for the worst to happen. Pack the important stuffs and evacuate to a safer place and seek shelter. Who would've expect that a catastrophic storm would come the next day when the sky is as stunning as this? The resiliency of Filipinos, especially the Bicolanos will be tested again after super typhoon Rolly left with a devastating aftermath. But like the previous storms that hit us, this would surely pass and we will surely be able to endure the devastating aftermath. `Thank you so much for reaching this point of reading this article. I'm not sure if there are already some users who wrote about this topic, but I still want to write about this on my own perspective. After two days of being unable to connect to the internet, I'm glad to finally able to publish an update. -` @esciisc `💕` What do do during typhoon? Read this article to know more: **Another Typhoon** https://read.cash/@esciisc/another-typhoon-ca699ca9

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@esciisc 31 October 2020

We are now under signal number 4 and the news says that there's a possibility that it will be raised to signal number 5. 😖🙏🏻 When things gets worst we might even lose phone and internet connection in the following days 😫

@esciisc 31 October 2020

Another Typhoon About a week ago, Typhoon Quinta ripped through the southern part of Luzon in the Philippines and caused a lot of damages from houses to businesses and in the agriculture sector. Up until now, a lot of people are still cleaning up all the mess left behind by typhoon Quinta. In the region where I'm located at, there are still places without electricity supply, debris are still lying rotting on the ground and some houses aren't fixed yet. But the bad news is that, another typhoon, more disastrous than typhoon Quinta is approaching the Philippine area of responsibility — Typhoon Rolly. With international name Goni, Typhoon Rolly is expected to wreak havoc in the Philippines by Sunday. It is described by *The Washington Post* as **'the year’s most intense storm on the planet',** so people in our place are already preparing for the worst right now. This morning, me and my siblings busily kept all the important stuffs and documents in plastic bags and sealed it tightly so that if in case there's a flood or if in case the roofs will be blown by the strong wind, the documents are sealed and safe. My sister also kept the clothes that we no longer use in a big drum so that after the rain, we won't have to spend so much time doing the laundry and spend our time for cleaning all the debris instead. And each of us also packed a personal emergency bag. The Philippine archipelago is located along the typhoon belt in the Pacific so each year approximately 20 tropical cyclones hits the country wherein, 5 of it are usually destructive. Typhoons are named A-Z, at the start of every year, but in 2013 a lot of tropical cyclones entered the Philippine area of responsibility that PAG-ASA run out of names, so they have to start all over again from 'A' to name the next typhoon. All throughout my life there are three typhoons I can never forget. **Super typhoon Reming**. ***November 30, 2006***. I was just in 6th grade that time when this typhoon violently hit the Bicol region. This typhoon seemed to be one of the most destructive typhoon that ever hit our region because the heavy rainfall caused the ashes in the volcano to be washed away which resulted to lahar. Hundreds of people who lives in towns located near the volcano were buried alive. A total of 655 deaths we're recorded. Earlier that day, I was having a great time with my cousins, and it didn't even occur to us that a strong typhoon is coming because it was sunny that morning. My grandpa who is still alive that time, even jokingly said that the typhoon is only in the television and radios. He didn't bother going to the big house and preferred to stay in his small nipa hut. But at lunch the rain started to pour and the wind also started to get stronger. Good thing, we are safe and sound at my grandparent's big house. **2.** **Typhoon Nina**. ***December 25, 2016***. This typhoon ruined the vacation weekend of many Filipinos and destroyed a lot of homes and even eaten the lives of several people. I can't forget this typhoon because during that time, I was at my grandma's house in Camarines Sur since my cousins who are already living in other parts of the country went home after a long time. We planned to visit some beautiful landscapes in Albay and Sorsogon the next day, so we even made some goodies such as ice cream, graham balls and other foods that we will bring the next day. But alas! The lights we're cut off by 3 pm and strong rain and wind came gushing. Some parts of the house was destroyed that night, and we are unable to sleep because we were cleaning all the rainwater coming from the ceiling. When I went home in January, most of our stuffs including all the projects I made and are due after the Christmas vacation, are ruined because my two siblings left at home aren't able to prepare since they didn't anticipate the strong storm too. **3**. **Typhoon Tisoy.** ***December 2, 2019***. In my more than 20 years of existence, I have seen and experienced a lot of typhoons but this is the very first time I experience evacuating. The new house where we currently stay is not that sturdy compared to the other house at a nearby town but it would be a hassle if the whole family will leave and stay there. I stayed here with my parents so that I could help in cleaning up all the mess. But when the typhoon landed, my parents urged me to evacuate at our neighbors house and I have no choice but to obey them. Good thing I did because later that night there was a flood that reaches the knees and the next day, we have to clean up all the mud and debris. Since we are somehow used to experiencing typhoons now and then, we already know what to do in times like this. **What to do During Typhoons** **Prepare**. Typhoon is one among the foremost common disaster that we experience from time to time. Nobody can ever escape this. What's the best thing to do to survive? Prepare. Yes, preparation is always the key to survive. It doesn't only mean to prepare the stuffs we need or to make the house more sturdy, but we have to prepare our mind too. We have to acknowledge the very fact that this really happen which we and our loved ones will possibly face danger. Know the potential places for evacuation and it is also best to prepare and keep emergency supplies. Here's what we need to prepare: Foods that will last for at least 3 days Potable water Clothes First aid kit Flashlights with spare batteries or with fully charged batteries Power bank Blankets Cash or debit and credit cards **In the midst of the typhoon**. Act quickly and always obey what the authorities say. If possible, listen to the news or watch the newscast, and always stay indoors. When evacuating, always keep in mind that our lives is what matters the most, so leave behind the personal items and just bring your emergency bag that contains emergency supplies. Seconds can make a difference between life and death so always expect for the worst to happen, so act with vigilance. **Stay safe after the storm**. Last Sunday, when typhoon Quinta reached the land areas, wind gust started to pound our place and strong rains came at around 5:30 pm, so we thought that the typhoon has landed, and the entire neighborhood is actually thankful that it landed while it is still daytime. The strong wind and rain stopped at around 7:30 so people went outside and checked on the damages. But we were wrong, at 8:30, stronger winds clocked and began to pummel again along with heavy rains. The lesson? Don't make assumptions and stay indoors until the newscast says that the threat has already passed. Yes, the aftermath of every typhoon may be depressing and it might be frustrating to lose some of our assets and valuables, but always keep in mind that those things can be replaced, what matter is that we are alive and ready to face life despite the storm that has just passed. Stay safe everyone, specially those who are located where the typhoon is supposed to landfall - @esciisc 💕

@esciisc 29 October 2020

Cooking Shenanigans My cooking shenanigans was mostly out of curiosity, my love for food and my passion for cooking. I was five years old when I learned how to cook, what do you expect from a five-year-old? Of course, I can cook rice on the rice cooker lol. My mom taught me to do it at an early age because back then my parents usually take overtimes at work and when they arrive home, they are already too tired to cook our meals. I was in first grade when I learned to cook and prepare simple meals such as oatmeal, fried and boiled eggs and noodles. Since I was just a child that time, I felt like cooking is a burden. I don't really like doing it every day specially in the morning. But as I was growing up, I became used to being the cook at home. I'm always in charge of preparing meals except when I'm in school. When my parents are not around, I used to experiment on foods and invent my own recipes, specially with vegetables. My siblings and I are certified picky eaters. We usually don't want to eat pure vegetables, it should always go along with meat, fish or processed foods. My parents are usually away from home due to their jobs, and they would always leave the foods we should consume until they get back home. At times, it takes a few days before they could return and usually, what is left on the fridge are vegetables. And because we are picky, I had to come up with recipes for us to be able to eat those veggies. It usually turns out good and edible lol. I usually try to make something healthy out of processed and easy to cook foods. Our dad doesn't want us to usually eat noodles because it's unhealthy, so I usually cook it along with veggies. As I grew older, I became a food lover too. I am no longer as picky as I was younger. And I became fond of trying out new recipes and give twist to simple home cooked meals. When the quarantine started, I entertained myself by watching recipe vlogs on YouTube. But usually watch the easy recipes, those with ingredients that can be found on our kitchen or can be easily obtained at the grocery shop since I usually imitate it and try it out myself. Yesterday, I watched a YouTube video about easy to prepare *tuna carbonara*. So this is what I'm going to show you today. **Ingredients:** 6 cloves of garlic 2 medium sized onions 2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 kg elbow macaroni 1 410 ml evaporated milk 1 250 ml all purpose cream 1 can (198 grams) mushrooms salt Oil 2 cans (175 grams) tuna flakes in oil (I used Fresca tuna but you can use other brands) Steps: Boil the elbow macaroni according to the packaging direction. Drain the water and set aside. I put in a pinch of salt to make the pasta tasty and I also put 1/4 cup of oil to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other once the water is drained. Mince the garlic and the onion. On the YouTube vlog I watched, they only use minced garlic, but since I can't live without onions (lol) on my food, I added 2 medium sized onions on my recipe. Make sure to mince these properly specially if you have kids at home, they usually don't eat these two but if it is minced, they won't even notice it on their food. Heat the pan and saute the garlic and the onion for about 3-4 minutes or until it gets aromatic. Instead of a cooking oil, I used the oil I extracted from the two cans of tuna to saute the garlic and onion. When the onion and garlic are already brown amd aromatic, pour the cans of tuna. Just let the tuna boil for about a minute while constantly mixing it to avoid it from burning and sticking to the cooking pan. After a minute, add the mushrooms. For this recipe, I used the champignon mushroom so I only removed the water from the can before pouring the mushroom into the pan. But if you will use whole mushrooms, cut it in halves first before adding it on the mixture. Then cook it for about 2 minutes. After two minutes, pour in the evaporated milk. It's a bit dark because I only used the built in flash on my phone since we still don't have electricity supply due to the typhoon's damages 😅. Wait for 2 minutes and still, constantly stir it to prevent ot from scrambling. After two minutes add the all purpose cream. Don't add the cream all at once. Add it slowly while constantly stirring so that it would create a velvety and yummy sauce. Turn off the heat on the stove and add the elbow macaroni. Look at the pasta falling from the strainer! 😂 Tsadaaaaaaan! Our Tuna Carbonara is now ready to serve and eat! It can be perfectly paired with a glass of fruit juice or a soda. I know, it's not as appetizing as the real carbonara but trust me, it taste great! `After four days, the internet connection seems to get better and now I'm finally able to write another article. Thank you so much for reading! -` @esciisc `💕`

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@esciisc 25 October 2020

I want to write and publish an article but the internet connection is unstable due to the tropical cyclone. It's signal number 3 in our region now 😬 so I'll just do it tomorrow, and to save my phone's battery life too. See yah all tomorrow or the next day. Keep safe everyone.

@esciisc 24 October 2020

Excessive Mobile Legends Gaming *“Welcome to mobile legends, five seconds 'till the enemy reaches the battlefield, smash them!”* *“All troops deployed!”* Does this seem familiar? Personally, I've lost count how many times I heard these words. It even seems like wherever I go, I can hear this. And yes, this is what you'll hear at the start of every Mobile Legends game battle. Have you ever played the game mobile legends? How many enemies have you slain? Or do you know someone who plays it? Perhaps a family member, a friend or your boyfriend or girlfriend. I'm writing this to release the frustration and annoyance I'm feeling right now. Since I don't want to burst in anger because of my housemates, my siblings to be specific, I'll just write my thoughts. It's been three years since my brother started playing this mobile game while two of my sisters started playing it last year too. Before I don't have a problem with them playing this mobile game since they just play it during their free time. But as time goes by, they have become addicted to the game and that's when things got worse. For the nth time, I feel annoyed and can't help myself from blaming them because they are addicted to the game. I was supposed to go somewhere but I can't go out of the house earlier because I have to cook our meal first. My siblings are actually old enough to do it, but they don't know how to. If I don't cook, we won't have a decent food on the table. They are too focused on the game that every time I ask them to cook even just the rice, they can't do it properly and in the end I'll just become annoyed. There are hundreds of mobile games out there but Mobile Legends seems to be on top of the list of every gamer nowadays. A lot of individuals from various age bracket knows how to play the game and they enjoy it a lot because of its great user interface with lots of heroes and different modes to play plus it is also super easy to learn how to play it. I'm talking based on experience because out of curiosity, I played it some time ago as well. But I didn't let myself be carried away of how fun it is to play it unlike others who are already addicted to it. Other players not only spends so much time on the game, but they also spend their money just to buy heroes and hero's skin which will help them to have better gaming experience. Playing Mobile legends is not necessarily wrong as long as it is only done just to ease a person's boredom or to kill time. Studies even show that playing the mentioned game has positive effects on a person. Example, a person's thinking ability can be improved when formulating strategies on how to lead the team to victory. And it can also bring people together since the game has a feature to form a team and communicate with each other while playing. But in my observation, excessive mobile legends gaming has more negative effects than the positive. Here are the negative effects of excessive mobile legends gaming: **Inability to focus on more important things which leads to poor performance.** Almost all the time, mobile legends addict have the game in mind. They only think about playing the game even when they are doing other tasks and activities, be it at home, in school or at their workplace. Take the example of my brother, our dad always scold him whenever he is asked to do something. It's like he's trying to do the tasks assigned to him as fast as he can, so he could go back to gaming. And as a result he usually fails to meet the tasks required of him. It's the same with my sister, whenever I ask her to at least cook rice for our meals, it's either the rice is not fully cooked or it is burned. **Unstable emotion and increased aggression.** Some players don't notice it but the game actually encourage violence since it requires each gamer to slain or kill his or her enemy so that they could either destroy the enemy's turrets or defend their own turrets. Either way, the more they have slain an enemy, the higher chance they have do as to achieve victory. Excessive playing of violent games could influence the gamer to become violent as well. Players who are addicted to this game tends to be very irritable and can easily lose their temper. When my sister started playing this game, her attitude also changed and now she even says foul words and curses. It's because most players of this game are fond of profanity and throwing bad words against their teammates or enemy team. **Relationship and interpersonal communication problems**. While the game can bring people together because of its great features, it can also ruin one's relationship with his family and close friends. Since they always have their attention on the game, they tend to neglect their interpersonal communication with their own families. Same with my siblings, we can't even talk to them or have a proper communication with them. It seems like they are always irritated when you try to start conversing with them. My cousin and his fiancée also broke up for about a year and almost unable to proceed with their wedding just because my cousin became addicted to the game and neglected his fiancée. **Health problems**. Due to excessive gaming, they often stay up all night, so they usually lack sleep. At times, they even skip their meals just to focus o gaming. And too much use of mobile phones or computers can increase the risk of being exposed to radiation, thus results to eye-strain and headaches. I even watched on the news some time ago about a mobile legend gamer who went blind after playing the game for more than 24 hours and someone also died of colon cancer because of lack of sleep and not eating. Sad to say, there are people who are addicted to this game and prioritize the game instead of their health. These are just few of the negative effects of excessive playing or addiction to mobile legends which I concluded based on my first hand experiences and observations. And there might be some that I overlooked. Nowadays, young or old alike have their mobile phones and gadgets jam-packed with different mobile games and applications. There is nothing wrong in playing these mobile games as long as we do it moderately, as long as we only do it to kill time, to release stress or tension and to ease our boredom. But it's not okay to get addicted to it and compromise our relationship with others, our health and neglect the more important things in life such as our work or our studies. We can all play any mobile game but always make sure not to make it our priority and learn to manage our time wisely. Our mobile phones are just gadgets, so we should be the one to control it, not the other way around. Don't let your mobile phone nor the mobile games gain control in your life! `If you are of those seems like being enslaved by your mobile phone or gadget check out this article that might help:` ARE YOU IN CONTROL? OR DOES YOUR GADGET CONTROLS YOU? https://read.cash/@esciisc/are-you-in-control-or-does-your-gadget-controls-you-3c191e1e Thank you so much for reading! - @esciisc 💕

@esciisc 23 October 2020

Road Accidents I previously published a free writing article entitled wake (Read it **here)**. I wrote it out of boredom when me and my parents went my uncle's wake last time but I didn't explain what really happened. https://read.cash/@esciisc/wake-4ef671c4 My uncle and his family lives in Manila. But his mom got sick several months ago, so he went back to Bicol and took care of his mom. He was here for about two months, but he wants to spend time with his family on my aunt's birthday, so he decided to go back home in Manila. Since he's a rider, he just used his motorcycle in travelling back home. He's too excited to see his wife and daughter after several months of being away. But something unexpected happened. He was already in Atimonan, Quezon when a delivery truck full of animal feeds hit his motorcycle. A YouTuber uploaded a video and there are other riders there too and fortunately, they only acquired injury. One tricycle driver said that when he saw the truck making zigzag moves, he jumped off his tricycle, so he was only injured. The truck's wing was also opened for some reason, so aside from being bumped by the truck, several sacks of animal feeds fell on him too. He cracked his head, his left rib was severely fractured, and he got broken legs too. They said that if in case he didn't die from that accident, he will still be half dead and that will be more painful for him and his family I guess. Unfortunately, here in the Philippines, when road accidents like this happens, they only compensate  the family of the bereaved a sum of PHP. 70,000 ($1500) up to PHP. 200,000 ($4000) which I think is unfair because it seems like that is just the value of a life that's lost. In my uncle's case, my aunt didn't agree to get paid with that small amount in exchange for her husband's life. She would rather sue than come to agreement. Whether we like it or not "time and unexpected events overtakes *us* all.” This world we live in seems to be a very hazardous place. In our most unexpected moment, in just one frightening split second, anyone can experience an accident. It can happen whenever and wherever we are. It can happen at home, at work, on the road and it can even happen while on a recreational activity. But if we think about it, accidents are generally caused by people. If people would only be safety-minded, we can avoid a lot of accidents. Accidents are unplanned events that hurts. It is usually caused by people due to an unrealized hazard or it may be an unsafe act that can hurt someone. One of the most common accident that we often hear about are road accidents. “*Drive Safely*!” If you are a rider, or someone who drives any vehicle, how many times did your family, loved one or friends told you this whenever you are departing? According to a report, every year 1.2 million people die due to a road accident and a lot more are being injured. This is indeed a big number, if only people will pay attention to safety, a lot of accidents can be avoided. **Here are some ways to prevent road accidents:** **Check your vehicle before driving**. Make sure that your car, motorcycle or any vehicle is in good condition before driving. Make sure to check the following: *leaks, brakes, lights, side mirrors and tires*. Most accidents happens when at the middle of driving, the brakes are suddenly not working or there might be an oil leak. **Don't drink and drive**. This may already be a common line, but always make sure not to drive when you are drunk. A lot of accidents happened due to this. Sixteen years ago, when I was in third grade, my dad almost died and lose his one leg due to drunk driving. Fortunately, he's still alive until now. **Take care of your speed limit and seat belts**. There might be some roads with a very low speed limit, and this might bore you or you might think that exceeding a bit of the limit may take you to your destination faster. Is it worth risking an accident just to get to your destination five to ten minutes earlier? Also, make sure that you are wearing your seatbelt all the time and making it a habit to buckle up every time you get inside your car. **Make sure that you are familiar and knows the meaning of every road signs and traffic signs**. Imagine if there's a landslide, a bridge out or a cave-in of the road and you disregarded the signs, you might risk your life, if you don't pay attention to these signs. **Respect other driver or motorist**. Sometimes, an accident on the road occurs because the drivers lose their temper caused by other drivers. So don't be cocky and control your temper when driving. **Don't use your mobile device while driving**. This is already a basic, texting or chatting can distract you while driving so don't use your phone while driving. If you can't avoid using your mobile phone for GPS, try to activate the voice navigation on your device so your phone can 'talk' to you while you're driving. **Focus on the road**. Give your hundred percent full attention while driving and avoid any distraction. Always anticipate and expect that anytime, other motorist or drivers may do something crazy or wrong that might cause an accident. Being aware of what other drivers are doing will help you to avoid accident. These are just few suggestions to prevent road accidents. But it will be effective only if we put it into practice. Accidents may happen when we least expect it, but if we are always safety-minded, a lot of accidents can be prevented. Always keep safe everyone!

@esciisc 20 October 2020

Wake The **rain** just stopped when I saw my parents along with my younger brother preparing themselves. Seems like they are going out, so I asked them where they are going. My mom told me that they are going to attend my uncle's wake who had been in a road accident the other week. I pity his wife, which is my aunt and their only daughter who is just 8 years old because what happened is so sudden. Accidents really do happen in our most unexpected day and time. No matter how much we take care of ourselves, no matter how careful we are when driving, accidents are inevitable. The rain is poured hard again while me and my brother are on our way back to our home town, but we still continued going there nevertheless. We went back to my hometown where the dead is located. It's already dark when we arrived at their house since we encountered problems with the tricycle, we used along the way. At the wake, we are offered candies, but I didn't eat a lot because I'm afraid of getting tonsillitis and I'm also watching over my weight and **candies** are a big NO NO. I saw some lovely chrysanthemum **flowers** and I secretly took some photos. I don't know if there are some superstitious related to flowers. People here are very fond of believing in superstitions that's why. Despite the pandemic, I still saw a lot of people here. It's my aunt's birthday tomorrow, so a man sang a birthday **song** for her. She told us that it will be the most unforgettable and saddest birthday she'll ever have because it's also the last day she'll ever see her beloved husband. I'm actually still here and watching the people go back and forth. I don't know anyone here aside from the few relatives I talked to a while ago and I'm also not sociable. I don't normally talk to people if I don't know them, so I'm just here sulking at the corner and watching over these people. Time's up! Prompts used: **Flowers** **Rain** **song** **wake** **candies** **Timer: 10 minutes** Being bored made me look for an inspiration for photographya and writing. These are flowers I captured at the wake. A macro photo I also captured secretly. `It's been quite some time since I tried free writing with a timer and prompts. But I'm really so bored and I don't have anyone to talk to while we're at the wake. Free writing with prompts is indeed a good way to be able to come up with an article if you can't think of a good article to write. There is no internet there and I don't have any games installed on my mobile phone so I tried freewriting instead of being bored to death. Now that I'm home, finally there's an internet connection and I can finally publish this.`

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@esciisc 19 October 2020

I wrote an article entitled ***Parents are they Our Prison Guards or Life Guards*** several months ago. I didn't expect for @TheRandomRewarder to give a tip to it hehe. Thank you bot 💛 If you want to read the article, check it here: https://read.cash/@esciisc/parents-are-they-our-prison-guards-or-our-life-guards-7d209207

@esciisc 17 October 2020

Minsan mo lang ako maalala but when you do, worth it naman lahat ng paghihintay haha. Thank you @TheRandomRewarder 💛 I love you na talaga! 🤣 Pwede nang irenew mga sponsorhip ko ❣️

@esciisc 16 October 2020

The Santan Flower I was walking on my way home today from my tutee's house when I came across some colorful santan flowers alongside the road. I can't help but to recall the childhood memories with this flower. When I was a 6 or 7 years old, my parents we're working away from home so I was left with my grannies. My grandma used to be very fond of planting flowering plants on the front and backyard. Actually, the whole lot was planted with a lot of various plants. One of her favorites is the orchid but she also have other flowering plants such as euphorbia, roses, gumamela, century plant, zinnias, santan and a lot more. I can't remember the names of those plants but the memories are still vivid. I used to play a lot with my cousin and whenever grandma is not around or not looking, we will harvest some santan flowers, removes the filament at the center of the flower and sip the sweet nectar. Then we connect each flowers, sometimes with a thread and make it into *jewelries* such as necklace, bracelets, rings and even head dresses which we call crowns! Oh, those we're the good old days. Ixora coccinea, most commonly known in the Philippines as santan is a shrub from the Rubiaceae family. What's good about this flowering plant is that it blooms all year round. I've only seen three colors of it's flowers and I've seen it again today. Pink Santan Flowers A macro photograph of the yellow santan flowers It rained so hard while I'm still on the way home so I was stranded at my friend's house. But it turned out good because after the rain, I was able to capture a macro photograph of the red santan flower. Isn't it lovely? This flowering shrub is not only common in the Philippines. It is actually native to the countries of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Southern India. I'm even surprised to know that it is the national flower of Suriname! It is commonly known as santan but there are other names for this flower. These are: Jungle Geranium Flame of the woods Jungle Flame West Indian Jasmine Kheme Ponna Rangan Techi Jarum-jarum Pan Indeed, these shrubs makes a beautiful landscape too and we would all agree that they make school grounds and other public places more beautiful. And most of us are surely familiar about this flower but I'm sure that only few people knows that this is actually an edible flower! Yes, it is edible. I've read some references on the internet to find out more information about this shrub and came across a facebook post that says it can be made into a snack. It's actually my first time to know about it but I'll surely make another experiment on that in the future, and of course I'll share it here. Santan is one of the flowers that looks pleasing to the eyes, but also satisfies the tongue. `P.S: I really can't think of anything to write today and I'm also too lazy to write. But these santan flowers gave me an inspiration and the motivation to write. I hope you like this.` Thank you for reading! - @esciisc 💕 Read about edible flowers here: **What Looks Pleasing To The Eyes That Satisfies The Tongue** https://read.cash/@esciisc/what-looks-pleasing-to-the-eyes-that-satisfies-the-tongue-24ea23aa

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@esciisc 16 October 2020

What to write? What to write? I'm running out of ideas 😅🙆 How's everyone doing? My notification seems to be so quiet lately. Don't have anything new from my favorite writers 😅

@esciisc 15 October 2020

Here I thought 'missing EXC' was fixed since I saw that the articles last night have it. But my recent article is missing the badge again 😪 Patiently waiting for everything to be fixed nonetheless 🖤

@esciisc 14 October 2020

A Little More Healthy One of my most loved food is hotdog. I can even live everyday having hotdog as my viand that's why some people usually laughs at me whenever they find out what my favorite foods are. They say I have the preferences of a kid. But I know that I'm getting older, so I have to live a healthier life lol. So last night, I tried to make a healthy food for the family. I made a fern salad. Ferns don't bear flowers. They grow almost anywhere. I remember that when I was a child, my family sometimes goes to the mountain where my granny's land is located. A lot of ferns are growing anywhere and I thought that they are just weeds. But now I know that it is actually edible. Yesterday, a young boy was selling veggies for a cheap price, so I asked my dad to buy a bunch of ferns. They thought that I'm going to cook something I already tasted or eaten before. But they didn't know it's also my first time to make the dish lol. One of the good things about being the family 'chef' (Oh yes, I consider myself the chef at home!) is that they trust you with all the kitchen activities. They eat whatever you cook for them without questioning it 🤣 I had a lot of kitchen shenanigans and today I'm going to show you how to make a fern salad, the esciisc way. First, prepare the fern. Just get the young stems because it is still soft and cut it with your desired size. I prefer to cut it into shorter pieces for easy mixing. Next, wash the fern with cold running water. Make sure to remove all the dirt, and remove any worms lurking there. Sometimes it's hard to see the worms because it looks like the ferns. After washing the fern, cook it in a boiling water for about 5 minutes only. You can also steam it if that's what you prefer but it will take longer, probably 10 minutes. The purpose of doing this is to remove and bacteria in the veggie. After five minutes, or when the fern reached your desired softness, transfer it into a clean bowl, as you can see from above photo. Next is to prepare all the needed ingredients to make the salad. I used the following ingredients: 10 small ripe tomatoes 1 medium sized onion 2 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon rock salt 1 small calamansi (green lemon) Wash the tomatoes in a cold water then cut it into your desired size. For me, I prefer cutting it round shaped for the sake of food presentation. Next, prepare the onion. Remove the roots and trim the ends. Then cut it into half and chop it finely into small pieces. Chopping it into small pieces is just optional. You can also cut it into your desired size. Well, there are two kids in the house so whenever I cook, I always cut the onions and garlic into tiny pieces so that they won't notice it when they eat. Kids tend to leave those veggies when they're eating so it's best to make it smaller that they won't even notice it's there lol. Combine all the tomatoes and onions and mix it with the boiled fern. As you can see in the photo, I also added the black pepper and the rock salt (sorry the salt is not visible on this photo). Add the green lemon. One small piece of calamansi is enough. Don't make it too sour. But then, if you prefer it sour, then you can always add more calamansi. This is just optional, you can also add shreds of meat on the fern salad. I used pork meat here. It is a pork adobo which I shreded into small bits. I also added the garlic from the adobo to add a distinct flavor. Tsadaaaan! My dinner is ready. As I've said in this article's title, I'm trying to live a little more healthier so 3/4 cup of rice is already enough to pair with this yummy and appetizing fern salad. But the pork adobo makes it hard for me to strictly follow the diet, ugh. **Good Health.** Good health is one of the keys to having a happier life. **H******ere**** **are some steps to be a little more healthier.** **Eat right**. When I was younger, I thought that being healthy is when you follow a strict diet. And whenever I heard the words "I'm on a diet", I understand that it also means not eating a lot or not eating at all during a specific meal time. But I was wrong. Being on a diet is eating the right foods. Eating the right foods will make a person look better. Years ago, it is so hard for me to control myself to eat carbs and it seems like I'm always hungry. I was always scolded by my dad every meal time because he says that I don't look like a lady whenever I'm eating. So every mealtime, I prefer to eat alone so that they won't notice the way I eat. But I learned the importance of self-control. Whenever I feel like I'm already full, I stop eating no matter how much I still want to eat. I also try to eat less unhealthy foods. Before, I can consume more than a liter of soda in just a day, but now, I prefer to drink more water than soda. A year ago, I have a bigger waistline and bigger arms and shoulders. But it is smaller now after I tried so hard to avoid my bad eating habits. **Exercise more**. Exercising has always been my most dreaded activity. I don't want to exercise because it makes me feel tired and after every exercise, my body hurts so much. So instead of doing vigorous and heavy workouts, I resorted to dancing Zumba and other simple exercises for kids that makes my body sweat a lot. Dancing is a fun way of removing those excess fats without undergoing any workout. I've been doing it for more than six months now. And aside from dancing, doing strenuous works also helps me. As I already mentioned in my previous blog or article, I even help my dad in the construction project at home. And since we're living in the province, we also seldom cook using firewood, I also chop firewood at times which makes me sweat a lot. It's my own form of exercise and it makes my body feel great! **Get Enough Sleep**. Getting enough sleep helps for our body to perform better. Whenever I lack sleep, I also lack the motivation to do things. It makes me feel lazy and it's even hard to focus on things. Even if you didn't do any vigorous activity, if I lack sleep, I feel tired most of the time too. But sometimes, it is just so hard to sleep on time because of the many distractions such as the internet and using of gadgets. But do your best to get at least eight hours of sleep every night and it would make a difference in you. Let's all try to live a little more healthier and we'll surely be happier! `Thank you for reaching this point reading this article. You deserve a commendation! -` @esciisc`💕`

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@esciisc 13 October 2020

What is love? ❤️ Read this article if you want to know hehe https://read.cash/@esciisc/what-is-love-b9e5932a I was reminded of this old article I published because TheRandomRewarder tipped it few hours ago 😊 Actually he tipped some of my other articles too aside from this one.

@esciisc 12 October 2020

Who else is a bluefirer here? So sorry read.cashers for being inactive here. I'm just soooo hooked with the bluefire app since I love capturing and sharing photos 🤩 Looks like I'll abandon my Instagram account soon 😂 (Just kidding ✌🏻) Anyways, if you love taking and sharing photos, you should try and download the app. You can follow me too. My uname there is **Shiela** (My first name) Have a great day dear read.cash friends 💕

@esciisc 10 October 2020

I wonder why someone saves my articles 🤔 I checked on my recent articles and some of them are saved. With the previous plagiarism issues, I'm suspecting that someone might be posting the articles again on other blogging sites. 😑

@esciisc 9 October 2020

A Call Center Agent's Job is Not Easy *"You're a licensed professional teacher but why do you only work as a call center agent? You're just wasting your license."* An acquaintance once asked me in tone that seems like she's belittling the job of a call center agent. She seems to be the one who regrets more that I do not use my license because I ONLY work in a call center. Why, is it wrong to be a call center agent? Not because you are a professional, you should be ashamed of being a call center agent. It's not something to be ashamed about. Many people do not understand the scope of work of those in the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry. If you are a call center agent, instead of being embarrassed, you should be proud of it. First, let us know the difference between BPO and call center. Most people are familiar with the words 'call center' but they're not too familiar with BPO. **Call center** is focused on phone calls to answer and resolve customer's queries. Representatives or agents usually takes outbound or outgoing calls. **BPO** means Business Process Outsourcing. BPO has all the call center jobs such as inbound and outbound calls and it also includes other outsourced back office tasks such as chat supports. Some truths about BPO or Call Center Job: First, when you decide to work in a BPO company, **you are expected to have an excellent command of the English language** because most of the time, you'll be speaking with English speakers. Not all people can do this, I've seen a lot of college graduates, some even graduated with flying colors but can't land a job in call center because they have a limited or worse, terrible command of the language. **You should be flexible**. In the Philippines, most Call center and BPO companies operates 24 hours. So agents usually works in shifting schedules. You should be flexible about whatever schedule will be given to you. There's no room for being choosy. Your body clock should be flexible since you schedule might change any time. **You shouldn't be overly sensitive.** If you are sensitive and can be easily hurt with bad words, then you should think twice about working as a customer service representative. Several months after I graduated from college, I landed a job in a well known BPO company in my region, so it's basically my first ever call center experience. I don't have any idea how much trouble I would experience and how many curses and bad words I would hear. There are few times that I even cried on the phone while talking to an angry customer because I'm not used to hearing curses. Several times that I even wanted to just quit and leave the job but I didn't. **You should have the patience of a Saint**. Since it is a customer service job, most of the time you'll deal with irate customers. If you matched their irritation, you are most likely unable to solve any of their concern. There are also old people who may ask for help at times and since most baby boomers are not tech-savvy and are short-tempered, you'll need to have tons of patience in dealing with them. **You should be good in multitasking**. Being a multi tasker is one of the most important quality that a customer service representative should possess. While listening to the rants of the customers, you should be able to analyze what their problem really is and formulate possible solutions to their problems. And while doing this, you will have to work on the tools that you will use to assist customers. **You should be able to work under pressure**. In BPOs there's this thing called queuing which means that you won't even have time to chitchat with your co-workers because of the large volume of calls that you'll be getting. And managers will even require their agents at times to work for about 12-13 hours a day and that would be too exhausting, but if you are focused on your goal, this would be as easy as pie. These are only few of the challenges that a call center agent faces and the reasons why their job is not as easy as other people think it is. Once you are a call center agent, you will learn tremendous skills. You can be anything that you didn't even study back in school. When I worked as a call center agent, I became a sales person, talked to banks, became a psychologist, learned about flowers and flower arrangements and learned the basics in businesses. My communication and interpersonal skills was improved as well. And I was rewarded with a good salary as well. Call centers and BPO companies pays a handsome amount plus the incentives if you always do a great job. True enough, there's no easy job nowadays. So we should never belittle any job out there because every job plays an important role in the society, no matter how lowly it may seem to others. The Work Paradox Work. All people need to work to get by with everyday living. For most people, the majority of their time every day is being devoted to work. Their goal is ti do a good job in their works to achieve satisfaction and be able to provide for their needs. There are people who work to live. While others live to work. People seem to measure someone's value depending on his or her work. No matter how important our work is, we should try to have a balanced view when it comes to work and working hard. Some people are too dedicated in their work and in working hard that they even tend to forget about enjoying and sometimes, they even neglect their health and their family. A bible passage says: “Every man should eat and indeed drink and see good for all his hard work. It is the gift of God.” This only shoes the value of hard work and it also shoes that we should also enjoy the fruits of our hard work. Some people enjoy their work a lot but others don't. Thinking about the long hours of labors that they will do, makes others dread their work. Others only work for the sake of getting money, thinking that if they don't have a work, they won't be able to buy their basic needs and pay their bills. How can such people change their mindset and get the motivation needed for them to find satisfaction and contentment in their works or job? **Consider the following points on how to find enjoyment in our works:** ✓ **Cultivate a positive attitude**. We may not be able to change our circumstance, but we can still change our attitudes. We should try to meditate on the positive aspects of our job. Think about why we need the job and recognize that it is our way to make ends meet. If you know the value of your job, you'll find fulfillment and satisfaction in doing it. ✓ **Be honest and diligent**. In today's world, where a lot of people are dishonest, it is important for us to be diligent and show honestly. Working hard and doing our best for our job will bring blessings. Our superiors might notice our hard works and reward us for it. And not only that, we will also gain a good reputation if we always to our job well and always shows honesty. And whether our superiors or employer takes notice of or hard works or not, we can have the satisfaction that comes from having an honest and clear conscience. Let us all enjoy the work we have and always remember that every work in this world has its own important role. Don't belittle anyone's job and find enjoyment in your own work. 💕 `Lead Image credits to freepik.com`

@esciisc 9 October 2020

Since the update of new way of earning in this platform, I no longer see any sponsorship, giveaway and contest articles. And I'm cool about that. It's good to see and read decent articles now. But despite amid the new update, I'm sure that most of us are still happy to see images on our sponsors block. It's good to know that someone's supporting you right? Yesterday, as well as this morning, I got notifications saying that some of my sponsorships will be ending and I need to add funds. I checked on the list and I see that most of them are no longer as active as they we're before. Some even stopped writing articles some time ago. I don't even see them on my articles lately. So I decided not to continue my sponsorship of some users and make the bid a bit higher for the remaining *loyal* ones lol. I mean those who are still active and are worth the sponsorship. Jane already mentioned about this before but I want to repeat the thoughts of that post. I barely remember what's written there though, but the point is about ***how to keep your sponsors****. **How to Keep Your Sponsors** • Be consistent. If someone sponsored you because of your articles, be consistent in writing good articles. • Show a bit of support to your sponsor. That would also be a source of motivation of your sponsor. • Don't be a *ghoster*. You probably know what I mean. But if you are earning a lot from TheRandomRewarder, just don't mind my nonsense post.